


The Past Always Comes Back to Bite

by Burningstars98



Series: Energon is Thicker Than Water [2]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015)
Genre: Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:48:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29293161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burningstars98/pseuds/Burningstars98
Summary: Flashdrive is now six months old, and things are finally starting to wind down...Sort of. Being exposed to the citizens of Crown City has brought on its own category of challenges.Bumblebee is surprised when Ratchet and Optimus come to Earth until he discovers why: Shockwave is on Earth again, in pursuit of two young, incredibly powerful bots who possess important information about the scientist's current plans.Finding the bots is the easy part, keeping them out of the clutches of Shockwave and his team of bounty hunters is where the challenge lies...
Series: Energon is Thicker Than Water [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2013289
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	1. Prologue

Cybertron. A world of metal and technology. It had once been the battleground of a war that lasted thousands of Earth years, but for now, it was peaceful, healing slowly but surely under the guidance and control of the Autobot Faction.  
Those of the Decepticon Faction were thin-spread across the planet, still stirring up trouble and attempting to destroy whatever peace the Autobots had managed to create in the few short years that it had been since the war ended.

On this side of the planet, it was what could be considered night, though the planet's sun was too distant to really make a difference in the light or temperature of its surface. But even night was as busy as any other time, bots swarming across the surface in all directions going about their business. Their numbers were low in the history of the census, but was steadily regaining strength as more lives emerged from the depths of the Well of Allsparks, always glowing with a soothing blue light that stretched across the skies like the Aurora Borealis of Earth.

One Autobot was admiring the glow from his window, a glass of precious energon in one hand. The hustle and bustle of the world below barely bothered him in his upper-level home. Stacks of data tablets sat on the desk for him to sort through, he'd do that later. There was the faint sound of music from the flat above him, and the hum of the activity below him in the streets.

So much had happened since the end of the war, so much discovery and change; he was having difficulty remembering it all.

A soft chirp from his desk caught his attention, and he moved from the windowsill to collect one tablet in particular, its screen lit up blue with a blinking white box. A video communication request.  
He got plenty of messages throughout the day, but this one was from a very important bot. He tapped the box, and a solemn face appeared on the screen.

"Ratchet." The bot greeted, his voice warped a little by the weaker signal.

Ratchet gave a slow nod. "Optimus..." He whispered. "...It is good to see you."

"I only wish it was under better circumstances, Old Friend..." Optimus reported. "...I have received word that a shuttle was stolen from the Cliffjumper Memorial Airbase, and accessed the Space-Bridge and warped to Earth's coordinates... Shockwave was among the bots that boarded."

Ratchet's systems froze for a moment. Shockwave...In all the years it had been since Cybertron had been restored, they'd never managed to capture or even locate the mad scientist that had served under Lord Megatron's command. 

It seemed that not even Predaking, one of Shockwave's creations from cloned predacon bones, was aware of his whereabouts. That, or he was not interested in telling. Not many attempted to bother the predacon, and none dared to interrogate him. You had to be careful around him, especially when he could easily get you in his mouth and shake you like a ragdoll until your optics were knocked out of their sockets and into your feet.  
His "subjects" had slowly but surely been emerging from seemingly nowhere, numbering in the teens by this time. Their existence implied that Shockwave was either creating more predacons, or pre-existing subjects had escaped the lab and found themselves under Predaking's care.

Ratchet forced himself back out of his thoughts, returning his gaze to Optimus' face on the screen. "Did anyone get a lead on his intentions on Earth?"

"Not that we have uncovered. However, one of the surviving guards at the airbase was able to inform us that Shockwave was accompanied by four decepticon bounty hunters, and had two unidentified bots as hostages."

"I can only assume that you intend to pursue them."

"Affirmative, and I desire for you to accompany me."

"Of course. Just let me clear my schedule and pack my bags."

The slightest hint of a smile appeared on the Prime's face, but it disappeared just as quickly. "I will send you the meeting coordinates."

"Understood."

The Prime's face disappeared, and Ratchet turned to the piles of data tablets, giving a hard sigh. "...Lifeline and Flatline will not be pleased to see that waiting for them, but that's what they get for signing up as my students."


	2. Escaped

It was a well-known fact that even a perfectly-planned strategy can have flaws, and this was no different.

They had immediately known something was wrong when the ship began rattling around, and even more when the lights began to flicker. A simple jump across space had suddenly become not so simple, especially for the Bounty Hunters. They'd been out for a quick score, and transporting two already incapacitated prisoners was easy pickings. Two young bots, barely out of the Well of Allsparks, cuffed and unconscious alongside a minicon that was caged and barely moved except for an occasional growl accompanying glowing optics from the darkness.   
It seemed all too easy, though they had to wonder what Shockwave had in store for them, or why he'd chosen them in the first place.

That's what they'd thought.

They left Greasefire in the prison chamber to make sure neither of the bots escaped, not that they expected them to. Moments after entering the Space Bridge, however, what had started out as a smooth ride instantly became rocked with turbulance.   
Somewhere in the space they were passing through as they were warped from one side of the universe to another, they'd encountered a cosmic storm. Those energies rattled the ship from stern to bow, and all bots were knocked from their feet, except for their employer, who was seated in the pilot's seat and only narrowed his singular optic in response to the anomaly as the ship shook and creaked around him. Alarms blared throughout the cabin, lights flickering on and off for several moments, before they finally broke free of the vortex, and the ship's trembling eased. The lights remained red, damage reports manifesting on the screen. It wasn't serious, but enough to cripple the ship for a few minutes.

A few minutes was all it took.

The Bounty Hunters received a distress call from their member who'd been watching the prisoners, and it only took hearing the crashing sounds in the background to tell them something was up. Two rushed to assist their ally, opening the door to find him on the floor with deep, bleeding gashes all over his body, and the two prisoners missing through another door that had been ripped open. Energon was splattered all over the walls and floor, and clawmarks gouged out the sides of the doors.

They entered the next hall, only to see the pair disappear into an escape pod.

"GET THEM!"

But by the time they got to the port, the pod had blasted away from the ship, plummeting towards the planet below and out of their reach. The pair couldn't have possibly even had time to strap themselves in before ejecting. "Follow that pod's trajectory! Find out where it's going to land!"  
They returned to the prison chamber, their fellow hunter painfully trying to get to his feet. "What happened!?"

"The lights went out... His optics opened... All I saw was murder... I don't think he was out after all. Maybe we were _wrong_ takin' him out of that facility...!"

The remainders returned to the bridge, worried about what their employer might do to them, now that their prize had escaped. The optics of the one that had remained on the bridge were narrowed, but he said nothing. Of the four of them, he was the only one that was not a part of their group, hired at another time along with his two torpedo minicons.

The scientist stood, his solitary optic watching the pod as it plummeted towards the planet. "They escaped you..."

The hunters were silent, all certain that he would turn his arm cannon on them at any moment.  
Imagine to their surprise when the decepticon gave a light chuckle, and then said one word.

"Excellent..."  
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Indeed, the pair hadn't strapped themselves down. The mech held his femme companion close to his chestplate as he slammed his fist on the button, and then was thrown back into the door as the pod blasted out of the port and away from the mothership. The roar of the engine faded, and the mech finally let out a cry of relief after several seconds of silence. "W-We're not dead... WE'RE NOT DEAD!!!" He cried. "Thank you, Primus!"

The femme's hands were clasped over her mouth, but she finally moved them, resting her helm on his chestplate with a hard sigh of relief. "...I am sorry for stopping you...But-"

"Don't be...It was the right thing to do."

The mech shifted position to take the controls. He'd known getting in that it would be cramped, because not only were there two bots in a one-bot pod, but he was larger than most bots anyway. "We only have a matter of time before they come after us. We have to make our final days count."

The femme crossed her arms from her place beside him, pinned against the wall with her legs curled up to her chest. "I...Do not like that... You think we will die."   
Her optics moved to the cuts on her companion's body that were only just deep enough to draw energon, and the sparks coming from a crack in his left temple, a current reminder of the fact that they'd just escaped from what would have been a fatal situation, thanks to sheer luck and her companion's skills. All of his injuries would heal within days...That bounty hunter would probably have scars from the wounds he'd been dealt. Drying energon was still on the mech's hands and splattered on his torso and arms.

"I never said how many final days we have, it could be millions of stellar-cycles."

The femme was silent for many seconds, her gaze falling on the planet they were heading for. "This planet is not like Cybertron."

"No... Thank you."

"For what?"

The mech grinned as he turned towards her. "...For keeping your helm on back there. You know..." his smile faded, "...When I _didn't_."

The femme's smile back was brief, her face once again returning to seriousness as she placed a hand on his arm. "I wanted to come...But they wouldn't...They said it would...stop the-"

"I know you did..."  
The mech's face fell as he saw his friend twitch, a few sparks flying from her neck joint as her helm jerked to the side. "How's the pain?"

"...Still there."

He remembered meeting her in the infirmary, seeing that tiny, glitching frame curled up pitifully in the corner, barely able to speak or move without extreme discomfort from her malfunctioning systems. Random, mix-matching bits of discarded armor covering her sparking body, because she wasn't even able to forge her own.   
He was her first friend, and she was his. That friendship, though still young, had lasted even when they were apart, when things had seemed hopeless and they couldn't see each other.

The femme looked at the planet again. "...You can land this...Right?"

"I've flown plenty of times, 'Tate."

"I mean a ship..."

"I know...I _hope_ I can."

"That...Does not make me feel any better."

"No, but if I say it enough times...Maybe I'll start to believe it."

**Planetary Impact Imminent. Protective measures suggested.**

"J-Just get us down there in one piece, you hunk of junk...!"  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

"SIDESWIPE!!!"

Even Bumblebee winced as he heard Strongarm's voice echo across the Scrapyard. Things had seemed to be going so good today, but maybe it all had just been swept under the rug until there was a lump in the middle. He turned to the red autobot, who had been stacking energon cubes before having his name called. He now stood with one cube in his hands, optics wide as he looked around frantically.

"What did you do this time?" Bumblebee sighed.

"I don't even _know_...!" Sideswipe squeaked, fear and confusion in his optics. "Y-Yes...!?" He replied.

The police cadet came around the corner, shaking what appeared to be flour from her chassis which had left her in a powdery coating of white. "Oh, you'd better _hope_ this doesn't gunk up my joints...!"

"It wasn't me, I swear!" Sideswipe insisted. "I've been helping Bumblebee with random stuff all morning!"

"It's true. He _has_..."

"Who else would just leave sacks of flour dangling precariously off of stacks for someone to walk under!?"

"Perhaps a little bot who doesn't know where things go...?" Sideswipe motioned with his hands. "About waist-high, six months old, likes to ask lots of questions you don't have answers for? Sound familiar?"

"As much as I dislike people blaming my daughter for things going wrong, Sideswipe may be right," Bumblebee murmured. "...Come to think of it, I haven't seen her in a little while."

"Flashdrive!?" Sideswipe called, but there was no answer. "Flashdrive!"

"We'd better locate her," Strongarm muttered, shaking more flour off of her whenever she moved.

Bumblebee gave a mild glare to Sideswipe as he stifled a giggle. "Really?"

"Just because I didn't do it doesn't mean I can't find it funny, Bee..."

The Lieutenant rolled his eyes, then tapped his comm. "Fixit, is Flashdrive anywhere near you?"

**No Lieutenant. I haven't seen her lately.**

"Same here..."

There was a gnawing feeling in Bumblebee's insides the longer they searched and called his daughter's name, and she didn't answer, and they didn't find her. She could be sleeping soundly somewhere, perfectly fine, but it was his job as her parent to worry.

He'd looked under every stack, in every section of the Scrapyard, and called for her several times, and there was nothing. Panic was settling in, and he paused in the clearing, putting a hand to his chest. "Where is she...!?" He hissed.

"We'll find her, Bee," Grimlock informed.

"We can't use the scanner to locate her because she's not wearing a transmitter," Strongarm informed. "She could be anywhere."

"You're not helping, Strongarm..." Sideswipe hissed.

Bumblebee closed his optics. He felt something coming through the panic; fear and trembling... She was terrified and hurting. But most importantly, he felt a pull in a certain direction.  
His optics opened once again. "...I know where she is."


	3. Crashing the Party

The further Bumblebee drove, the more guilty he felt. How could he have not noticed her absence long enough for her to have wandered this far? But if Steeljaw was the one responsible for his daughter's pain, then that mutt had given his last howl. 

The feeling guiding him was what Bumblebee could only describe as a bond that only they shared. Sideswipe understood that perfectly, feeling the same thing with his twin brother Sunstreaker. The pair were keeping in touch much better than they had in a long time since they'd been reunited and reconciled on Earth six months prior, and whenever Sunstreaker called up on the holo-screen, Flashdrive and Sunstreaker's charge Starstrike could have a chance to talk. Flashdrive loved showing her friend all of the sculptures she made out of scrap metal.

The pull led him, Sideswipe and Strongarm along the coastline and into a wooded area. In fact, it was only a few miles from where Bumblebee had given birth to Flashdrive only a few months prior. He paused at a clearing, dotted with picnic tables and several large boulders; a rest stop for humans traveling long-distances. He made a quick search for humans, and then transformed into bot mode. "Flashdrive?" He called softly. "...Flashdrive, please answer me...!"

A sound caught his attention, and he saw a little hand peeking out from between a few of the boulders. "Hold on Sweetspark, I'm coming!" He called.

He ran over to her, followed closely by Sideswipe and Strongarm. His optics went wide and he gave a sharp gasp as he saw his daughter, lying on the ground with energon all over her and in a puddle underneath her. "Sweet Solus Prime...!"

"Oh...Oh that's nasty...!" Sideswipe whimpered, swallowing hard to try to force down the sudden wave of nausea washing over him.

Bumblebee reached down slowly. "What hurts? Are you bleeding?" He asked, trying to sound calm and gentle despite panic wanting to take over.

Flashdrive shook her head. She opened her mouth a little, and then with a cry, heaved up some more energon. "I-It won't stop coming back up...!" She cried, her chassis trembling. "H-Help me...!"

Bumblebee's fears were quelled a little bit. She wasn't attacked and bleeding out, but she still shouldn't be puking up energon, especially this much in comparison to her size. "We're gonna get you home and cleaned up, okay...? How'd you get out here...?"

"I-I don't know! I was just sitting at home and then...Everything was spinning and I was here and...And-"

"Shh shh shh..." Bumblebee picked her up, holding her closely to his chest. "It's okay...You're gonna be okay, I promise..."

"Sir..." Strongarm murmured, "How can you hold her when she's covered in energon like that?"

Bumblebee smirked. "It's a parenting thing, you wouldn't understand." He replied, "Fixit, get us a groundbridge ASAP, and get ready to examine Flashdrive...She's really ill."

**Of course, Lieutenant.**

Flashdrive swallowed hard, resting her head on his shoulder plate. "I-I'm sorry..."

"Don't be. We'll get this figured out and get you feeling better..."  
The Groundbridge appeared after a moment, and Bumblebee hurried through it, reemerging in the Scrapyard. Flashdrive continued to tremble, giving little sobs. "Try not to cry, that'll only make you feel worse, alright Sweetspark...?"

Flashdrive nodded, giving a sniffle.

Bumblebee wouldn't put his daughter down, instead sitting down on the trailer where Fixit could reach her.

"That's just nasty..." Grimlock murmured. "You're gonna need a bath, Bee."

Bumblebee chuckled. "Yeah...But it's not like I've never gotten energon on my hands."

Flashdrive's sniffling faded as she snuggled with her parent, her little fingers tracing down his windshield. Bumblebee took a towel from Denny and wiped himself and Flashdrive off, trying very carefully not to shake the little bot around.

"Well... I have good news and bad news." Fixit explained after several minutes of scanning the virocon.

"Bad news first, Fixit..." Bumblebee requested.

"I am picking up traces of CN24 in her system. This would explain her disorientation and vomiting, her systems are still too underdeveloped to handle and demetabolize the chemical."

"CN24..." Strongarm's eyes narrowed. "...That's a chemical commonly found in High Grade Energon. It gives you that buzzing feeling in their processor."

"Exactly. The good news is that her vomiting has managed to get most of the chemical out of her systems, but it'll probably be a day or two before she's fully back to normal. The bad news is... I have absolutely no idea how she could have gotten it into her system in the first place."

"We don't keep High Grade here in the Scrapyard." Bumblebee expressed, "And until now she's never really left the yard except for when she fled into the desert..."

Flashdrive's optics opened a little bit, "D-Daddy... I don't know what happened..."

"It's gonna be okay, Sweetspark. Just rest, okay? You'll feel better."

A sudden beeping from the Command Center attracted their attention, and Fixit quickly rolled back up the ramp to investigate. "An incoming ship, Sir. And a pod of some sort has just entered Earth's atmosphere. Estimated landing trajectory is... The northern rural area of Crown City."

Bumblebee sighed. "Alright...Sideswipe, Strongarm, head for the pod's estimated landing location and ensure all humans are clear of the area. And _please,_ try to keep this civil for once..."

The pair crossed their arms as they glared at one another, but gave nods before transforming and driving away to their assignment.

"I would suggest less than fifteen minutes before the Mayor of Crown City calls inquiring about the pod's presence." Drift informed.

Bumblebee groaned, putting a hand to his helm as he shook it. "Don't remind me..."

Ever since the Autobots had informed Crown City of their presence on Earth, they had given the mayor a communicator that would connect to the Command Center in case of an "extra-terrestrial emergency." So far, most of the reports they'd gotten from him were false alarms, and Bumblebee was beginning to wonder whether the decision was a good one.

The Lieutenant got up again, rocking back and forth slowly as Flashdrive started to fall asleep in his arms.

His optics looked up, however, as he heard something come in overhead, and as the cloaking pulled back, he recognized the ship. "Prime Force One... Well, I knew it was only a matter of time..."  
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Planetary Impact Imminent.**

"I KNOW THAT!"  
The mech's fingers were tightly grasped around the controls as the pod shook about. "Come on...Come on!"

His companion was once again sitting with her hands clasped over her mouth, not allowing herself to utter a sound. She trusted her friend, but his frustrated, panicked shouts at the pod's computer weren't helping her frightened trembling. She could see the surface getting closer and closer, the swirls of white disappearing past them and uncovering the green and blue scape below.

"I see it!" The mech replied as she used one hand to point in front of them. "Come on...! Just get past the settlement...!"

**Planetary Impact-**

"SHUT UP!!!!"

The femme gave a gasp as her companion grabbed her, pulling her into his arms and wrapping the wings from his back around the two of them. They were going to crash, and he wanted to keep her as insulated as possible.

"H-Hold on, Tate!" He informed, and she placed her helm against his chestplate as he put one hand on the back of her helm.

The entire pod slammed into the surface with a loud crack, and she struggled like never before to keep her mouth shut and to remain silent as they tumbled helm-over-heel-struts over and over. The mech clung onto her, being tossed around as they spun, but more determined to defend the smaller bot in his arms.

Finally, after several moments, the pod came to a sudden halt as it rolled into something, and the mech grunted as he was slammed into the front view port. His systems went silent, and his helm really hurt when he rebooted.

"Answer me...!" The femme whimpered, her hands on his helm and her worried optics staring into his.

"I-I'm okay, Tate... I'm okay..." He rasped, giving a moan as he attempted to move. "Ah...! No, not okay...Can't fit in this slagged thing...!"

Tate gave a sigh of relief, and then looked out the cracked view port. "...We are trapped in here."

"Right...I can't use my claws to cut us out in this position...You're gonna have to blast us out."

"What? N-No, I can't! I...Don't want to..."

"Hey, take it easy." He pulled her closer to him as she began to twitch and her limbs jerk about. "Easy...I'm in your sphere. I'll be fine. Just real quick and sharp, okay?"

The femme looked uncertain, but gave a nod, shifting position so that she was facing the port. "...Okay..."  
She closed her optics for a moment, and then opened her mouth.  
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"You're speeding..."

Sideswipe groaned as Strongarm pulled up next to him. "It's only five over, Strongarm. Like...Every human on the road does that."

"Still counts."

The red sports car sighed, looking around their surroundings briefly.   
To their right and the east, stood the cliffs that broke off into the sea. Chilly air blew down from the north up ahead, and two their left were fields, dotted periodically with houses and less sparsely with trees. Clouds were rolling in with the wind, bringing with them the possibility of rain. He'd have to check in with Fixit for a definite forecast.

Flashing lights ahead caught his attention, and for a brief moment, he thought Strongarm had gone ahead, but found she was still driving close beside.

A blockade had formed on the road ahead, and as they reached up to it, they saw the reason... The pod. Humans had parked their cars alongside the road, standing as close as they were capable of going, trying to get a glance and photos of the find. Parents held their kids up on their shoulders, and some men had their female companions on their shoulders as well.

"Officer Rider." Strongarm greeted, recognizing the officer at the front of the blockade.

Officer Rider looked to them, and the faintest hints of a smile appeared on his lips under a bushy mustache. "Ah...Our extra-terrestrial experts have finally arrived."

Strongarm and Sideswipe transformed into bot mode, the crowds all watching with amazement. The wonder and intrigue of their alien visitors was still fresh, especially in the children's eyes. Sideswipe waved at the little humans, gaining giggles and happy gasps in return.

"Did anyone witness the crash?" Strongarm inquired, passing around the blockade.

"Most of the populace were evacuated from the vicinity. So far, we don't have any witnesses to the crash itself. Those that remained here however all describe a very loud noise shortly after the pod landed. Like a scream."

Strongarm and Sideswipe stepped towards the pod, examining it's condition. If it had been in one piece when it landed, it wasn't anymore. The front had been peeled open like a banana, glass from the view port littering the field for hundreds of feet and smoke still pluming from the wreckage.  
"Whoever was in this pod, they're gone now..." Strongarm murmured. "...But this was definitely an escape pod from a Cybertronian ship."

"This looks like a single-bot pod, so we should be looking for one bot." Sideswipe expressed. "Unless we're talking about a bot and minicon."

Strongarm nodded, and then scanned the area for any more clues. She did find grass crushed down by large feet, but they only went a few hundred yards before disappearing. "Scrap...Looks like our mystery-bot can go airborne."

"Well that's not helpful." Sideswipe muttered, running his fingers over the metal of the pod. He paused as his fingers ran over an anomaly. "...Hey, take a look at these marks on the floor."

Strongarm returned to his side. "...What about them?"

"Two long, deep pairs of gouges in the metal... Looks like claw marks to me. And groups of three more on the walls. Whoever was in here has some decent hardware on their hands and feet."

Strongarm nodded. "We can see if Fixit can use that to identify them."

"And this."  
Sideswipe pointed to the top, where several minor scratches were worn. "...How big was this bot...?"

Strongarm left her comrade to ponder things, tapping her comm-link. "Strongarm to Fixit, we've located the pod, but it's empty. Whoever was in it left in a hurry."

**We already have an idea of who was occupying the pod.**

"How so?"

**Please return with the pod, and then I'll explain. Sending you a Groundbridge now.**

Strongarm nodded. "Pack it up, Sideswipe. We've already gotten a lead back at base..."  
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Bumblebee looked up as the light came down from the ship hovering above the Scrapyard, still holding Flashdrive in his arms.

He was surprised when two bots left the ship, lowering themselves down to the ground before the light faded. Primus, he was in so much trouble...  
"Optimus, Ratchet. What a surprise." He greeted.

"We apologize for the lack of warning that we were coming, Bumblebee." Optimus informed. "But the situation was far too important to delay much longer..."  
Bumblebee felt his frame begin to heat up as the Prime's optics moved down to the virocon in his arms, still fast asleep. "...And I see there are things you have kept from us as well."

Ratchet stepped forward, optics narrowing a little as he pointed to Flashdrive. "...How long has _she_ been here?" He hissed, keeping his volume low.

Bumblebee couldn't keep optic contact with the medic. "...Six months or so?" He murmured.

He knew Ratchet was peeved, but he didn't look up even as the medic came up to him. "...And you didn't tell me this before now...!?"

Bumblebee rolled his optics. "Well no...I mean, I was going to...At _some_ point."  
The lieutenant winced as Ratchet gently but firmly twhacked him on the side of the helm. "Okay, I deserve that. But you were busy with council stuff, and I didn't want to bother you."

"Oh yeah, _that's_ a valid excuse...! What if something had happened? You could've gone offline!" Ratchet hissed.

"Yeah, but nothing happened, so..."

"Bumblebee's been going great as a dad, Ratchet!" Grimlock informed. "He even cleaned up Flashdrive when she was puking this morning without even flinching!"

"Thanks for the support, Grim..." Bumblebee looked back to Optimus. "I wasn't sure how you all would react. I mean, I wanted to wait until Knockout gave his findings to the Medical Council back on Cybertron, and then things just got busy and I didn't want to bother all of you with it."

Optimus smiled a little. "Do not apologize, Bumblebee. It is still a very mysterious and confusing process to many."

"I still want to do a full diagnostic on you." Ratchet informed.

"Yeah, sure..." Bumblebee smirked, but it faded as he remembered what Optimus had said. "Wait, what's the situation that you didn't have time to warn me about before?"

Optimus' face turned solemn once more. "...Shockwave has returned to Earth."

All the bots froze.

"Shockwave? The Decepticon Scientist?" Fixit asked.

"Indeed. We are not certain why he's come, only that he stole an Autobot ship and hijacked the Space Bridge to come here with a team of bounty hunters, and two prisoners."

"Who are the prisoners?" Bumblebee asked.

"Currently unknown." Ratchet replied. "Since Shockwave no doubt is aware of your presence here on Earth, he and the hunters will be attempting to prevent themselves from being located."

"That being said..." Drift intercepted. "...It is highly unlikely that Shockwave or his hunters were occupying the pod that we detected coming down in Earth's atmosphere."

"Maybe it malfunctioned and jettisoned on its own?" Grimlock suggested.

"Or the prisoners escaped in it and are here on Earth somewhere." Bumblebee looked down as the humans came up. "Denny, can I borrow one of your boats for Flashdrive to sleep in?"

"Take your pick, Bee." Denny informed.

As Bumblebee left the clearing, Strongarm's voice came through the comms. **Strongarm to Fixit. We've located the pod, but it's empty. Whoever was in it left in a hurry.**

"As it turns out, we already have an idea of who was occupying the pod."

**How so?**

"Please return with the pod, and then I'll explain. Sending you a Groundbridge now."

The portal was open for a few minutes before Sideswipe and Strongarm came out of it, dragging a wreck of the pod through it and into the clearing. "I'd hardly call it a pod anymore..." Sideswipe muttered.

Bumblebee stepped back into the clearing, overlooking the condition of the pod. "By the Primes...This is a mess."

"Authorities said that witnesses heard a loud screaming sound not long after the crash, and the viewport glass was flung much further than someone kicking it loose." Strongarm informed. "Some sort of sonic-based weapon?"

"That'd be my guess..."

It was then that the pair noticed the medic and Prime standing there, and stood at attention. "Optimus Prime, Sir!"

"At ease..." Optimus informed, allowing the bots to relax.

"Okay, here's the short story. Shockwave is here on Earth somewhere with a group of bounty hunters. He also had two unidentified prisoners that we figure escaped and used this pod here to reach Earth."

"So you don't think the occupant is a threat?"

Bumblebee's eyes narrowed. "I never said that. I mean, look at these clawmarks... Fixit, come analyze this for me."

The minicon rolled down and Bumblebee held him out to scan without having to climb into the wreckage.

"Deep marks on the walls and floor...Some lesser marks in the ceiling..."  
Fixit pulled out a tablet, imputing the information into it for a moment and collecting a sample of the energon left on the floor. "Whoever was inside here was injured. No doubt one of the prisoners was wounded trying to escape."

"But how could two bots fit in this thing at once?" Sideswipe asked.

"Desperation is a powerful thing, Sideswipe...Regardless, we need to locate these missing occupants and identify them, and do it before Shockwave and his goons find them..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are actually 2 chapters that I've combined because they were shorter ones.


	4. Targets Located

"Moisture falling from the sky...?"  
Tate held her hand out, letting the tiny drops of liquid fall onto it. The sky over them had become enclosed in the wispy white shapes, only they had turned gray, and blocked out the light from the planet's resident star. The colors of the planet seemed to dim and fade, leaving behind muted versions of themselves, and sagged as they absorbed the liquid and were weighed down.

"And not acid..." The mech looked up from the stream of liquid he was bending over. He scrubbed the dried energon from his frame, wincing a little as he went over his injuries. "We need to get as far from our crash-site as we can."

Tate nodded, turning back to him. "Do you...have a plan?"

"Not exactly... But I'm not going back to that place...To _either_ of those places."

The femme walked over, putting her hand on his shoulder. "...You are strong... You fight."

"Yeah? ...I don't feel too strong right now...More...Scared."

"Why?"

"I wanted to go so badly...!" He stood up. "I didn't want to go through it all again...The pain, the loss..." He took Tate into a tight embrace. "...I've already lost everyone I cared about once, I don't want to lose you _too_...!"

"You will not lose me... You are not done yet."

"I know...That's what worries me."  
He took a moment, and then turned back to her. "Come on, we need to keep moving..."  
________________________________________________________________________________________

"Stop looking at me like that."

Sideswipe's optics focused on the cadet sitting across the aisle from him. "Hmm?"

"You're just looking at me...Staring."

"I was?" Sideswipe shook his helm. "Sorry, I was just thinking..."

"About the prisoners?"

"No, about Flashdrive... How'd she wind up with High Grade in her system?"

Strongarm crossed her arms. "Are you sure it wasn't an effect of one of your pranks?"

"Hey, I'm not _that_ immature!" Sideswipe stood up. "And I would never do anything to hurt Flashdrive, you know that."

"Sure..."

Sideswipe groaned, rubbing his optics with a hand. "...Why do you hate me so much?"

"Oh I don't know..." Strongarm stood up. "Maybe because all you've ever been to me is a troublesome, little punk...!"

"Hey! Technically my spark is reformatted, so I'm older than you, Cadet!" Sideswipe turned away from her for a moment, and then returned her gaze even stepping closer to her. "I don't care if you think I'm nothing but trouble, but you know what I think about you? I think all you see is black and white. Good and Bad. You don't like to think that there's some gray mixed in there, people who do bad things for good reasons and vice versa."

"I-I don't think like that!"

"No? Then tell me. Tell me why you still look at Flashdrive and see a potential threat."

"She's an untrained juvenile with uncontrolled abilities. She doesn't know that she's hurting people."

"Exactly. She's a _baby_. You can't tell me that you never got into trouble for something as a protoform..."  
Sideswipe's angry expression lessened as he relaxed. "...That's your worst fear, isn't it? Making a mistake and being reprimanded for it. And when you see someone else get in trouble and only get a warning, it bothers you because you think they deserve worse."

Strongarm was quiet for a moment, her eyebrows furrowing. "You don't know what I fear, Sideswipe."

"Maybe not...But I can see it in your optics...You want order. I do too, but I know that the universe isn't orderly, and there is no perfect civilization that doesn't have it's messes... Not even a race of robots."

The sports car walked off, leaving the cadet alone once more.

"...I thought you guys were gonna get it on for a second there."  
Sideswipe jumped, helm whipping to the side where Bumblebee was leaning against a shelving unit.

"B-Bee! I...I wasn't-"

"It's okay, Sideswipe..." The lieutenant placed a hand on his shoulder. "...We all need to blow off steam sometimes."

**All Autobots report to the Command Center.** Fixit informed. **I have identified our two missing pod passengers.**

Bumblebee nodded, and he and Sideswipe hurried through the stacks to the clearing. "What do you have, Fixit?"

"With some information from Optimus Prime and Ratchet's reports, I have managed to identify our two mystery bots." Fixit pulled up a screen. "Shockwave may have covered his tracks very well, but the bounty hunters didn't. These two, Greasefire and Boltcutter, were caught on film infiltrating a Hylex Mental Facility. Upon further investigation, I found that they had taken one of the patients there with them when they fled... A dinobot by the name of Pterosword..."  
An image appeared on another screen. "He was admitted to the facility three Earth-Months ago."

"Why was he admitted?" Strongarm asked.

"The details are vague, only that he was mentally unstable and was a threat to the public because of it."

"What about the other bot?" Bumblebee asked.

"A femme by the name of Transmutate. She too is mentally challenged, something about not being sparked right. She has been attending therapy for several decacycles, but she began refusing treatment three Earth-Months ago."

"The same time Pterosword was admitted to the facility... Are they connected other than being fellow prisoners?"

"Undetermined, sir."

"Why would Shockwave take two mentally-challenged bots as prisoners?" Sideswipe asked.

"Probably to use as test subjects. If they went offline during the experiments, nobody would miss them." Ratchet admitted. "But why he'd bring them here with him is a better question..."

"Fixit, widen your scanning range and see if you can pick up Pterosword and Transmutate's signals. We'll split into teams."

Optimus nodded. "If you encounter them, or Shockwave and his team of hunters, radio it in but do not engage. Ratchet and I will head north."

"Great. Grimlock and Sideswipe, you head west. Strongarm and Drift, east. I'll head south." Bumblebee transformed into vehicle mode. "If you get a reading Fixit, radio it to us and we'll all convene there."

"Of course, Lieutenent."

"And... Keep an optic out for Flashdrive. I don't want to lose her again."

"Lose her?" Ratchet inquired.

"It's a...Long story. Let's just focus on this mission for now. Autobots, Rev up and Roll Out!"  
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was only a matter of time.

His claws dug into the rock as he scrambled up to the top of the cavern, finding a ledge and setting Transmutate down on it. "Stay here..." He whispered.

"You are going to...get hurt." Transmutate whispered, putting her hand to his cheek. "...Let me help."

"No, not unless absolutely necessary. You don't have training, I do."

"Just because I can't fight...Doesn't mean I can't help."

The dinobot sighed, taking her hand. "I will be fine... Stay here. _Please_."

Transmutate's expression hinted at thoughts of rebellion, but she finally gave a nod. "Fine."

He nodded and then hopped down, leaving the cover of the cave and climbing out into the small clearing that was outside of it. The entrance was a tiny hole in the ground, not above-ground, and hidden by bushes. As long as he kept their attention off of the bushes, she could be safe inside.

And that meant he didn't need to worry about her. That meant he didn't need to hold back.

The pair of hunters came crashing through the trees like a rampaging buffaloid in traffic, knocking entire branches off and flinging them to the sides. One of them was the guard he'd torn up on the ship. His injuries were still quite fresh, but it was obvious his dedication to his work overruled his need for medical attention and rest. "I am impressed... You still stand on your peds."

"You underestimated the damage you inflicted, Kid...! Where's the other one?"

"The femme? In a much better position than you, I'm afraid."

The other hunter chuckled. "It's always the processor-damaged ones that are the bravest... Isn't that right, Pterosword?"

Pterosword, the name they called him, the name that was on his record, but not his spark. He hated it like he hated them...But in all honesty, he hated them more.

"You can't run forever..."

The dinobot's optics narrowed. "Nor can _you_ stay in Shockwave's good graces forever..." He pulled out the sword he carried and held it out, "I'll go offline before I let that maniac near my circuits...!"

"So be it...!"  
___________________________________________________________________________________________

The rainstorm that was falling down on the landscape had lessened to a light drizzle as the west-sent team wandered through the trees. With the townspeople knowing their presence, they weren't worried about running into humans in the woods anymore, which made it easier to check the denser portions where their vehicle modes would become stuck.

Sideswipe took point, Grimlock guarding the rear as they searched for any signs of the missing prisoners.

"Everything okay, Sideswipe?" Grimlock asked softly. "You haven't said anything since we left."

"I don't really wanna talk about it, Grim..." Sideswipe paused, and then gave a sigh. "Ever since Bee told us that our sparks are recycled heroes from the war, I can't help but feel like I need to act more mature, more like a soldier and not... _Me_. Do you feel like that?"

"I'm pretty sure my previous self liked punching stuff too, so...No."

Sideswipe sighed. "But Strongarm won't let me prove to her that I'm trying to be different. She thinks it's all an act."

"Change isn't always seen right away, Sideswipe. Remember when Minitron was controlling me, and Strongarm thought I'd been faking it all along? She was wrong then, and soon, she'll realize she's wrong about you too."

"I suppose..."

"But I think you _can_ be more mature and not stop being you."

Sideswipe chuckled. "I guess you're right, Big Guy..."

The pair paused as they heard a commotion, and they ran through the trees to a clearing.  
On one side of the clearing was the entrance to a cave, and fighting in the middle was one of the escapees, and two of the bounty hunters. "Scrap...! Grim, call it in!" Sideswipe shouted.

"But Bee said not to-"

"Bee said not to chase after them if they bolted. He didn't say anything about defending them from the hunters!"  
Sideswipe broke out of the trees, slamming a foot into one hunter and knocking them aside. He pulled out his decepticon hunter and blocked a few shots fired at the escapee. "Need a hand!?"

"No," Pterosword replied, though an almost giddy grin was on his faceplate. He shot forward, planting several slashes on one hunter's torso and legs. "You are an Autobot?"

"Yeah. You're Pterosword, right? We looked up your file."

"That's the name they gave me..."  
Pterosword's wings flared outward a little as he blocked another shot at his face. "Their associates could be here any minute. We need to finish this quickly."

"You don't mean _kill_ them, do you?"

"Do you have a problem with that?"

Sideswipe opened his mouth to reply but then yelped as he dodged a missile fired at him. The missile crashed into the rocks behind, exploding and sending debris crashing down in front of a larger boulder.

Pterosword's optics widened with horror. "NO!" He shouted, his attention off of the fight for only a second. A shot hit him in the temple and he yelped, then growled, his grip on the sword tightening. "You will pay dearly for that!"

Sideswipe grabbed the dinobot and held him back; not to keep him from retaliating, but to keep out of the way of Bumblebee flying out of the trees in vehicle mode, knocking down both bounty hunters to the ground before transforming into robot mode with his gun out. The rest of the team followed in short sequence, and though one hunter escaped into the skies, Bumblebee and Strongarm cuffed the remaining hunter, standing on them to keep them from moving.

Pterosword hesitated only a moment before rushing over to the entrance of the cave, throwing rocks away. "Transmutate! Hold on, I'm coming!"

Grimlock came over and assisted him. Once the pile was diminished, they paused, hearing coughing coming from inside the cave. "Transmutate!"

The second escapee crawled out over the rocks, slipping for a brief moment before Pterosword caught her arm and yanked her up and into his arms. "I am okay..." She assured, looking down at the wounds Pterosword had sustained in the fight. "...You are hurt."

"Who cares about _me_...!?" Pterosword inquired as he pulled her into an embrace.

"I do...!"

"Are the two of you alright?" Bumblebee asked.

Both nodded, but as Pterosword stood up again, his optics fell on Bumblebee and widened. "...Bumblebee...?"

"Yes...?"

Pterosword gave a hard sigh of relief, "Oh thank the Primes! I was worried we'd be stuck with amateurs...!"

"Hey!" Strongarm complained.

"N-No offense!" His expression turned serious once more. "We need to get out of here. Their allies are on their way."

"Right." Bumblebee agreed. "Fixit, activate the groundbridge."

**At once, Lieutenant.**


	5. A True Name

It seemed much too quiet.

The moment Flashdrive had opened her optics, she knew something was different. For one, she could think clearly again, and her head wasn't hurting as much anymore. She sat up, overlooking the boat she was in. They must've wanted her out of the way, as usual.

But it was quiet. "D-Daddy? Grim? Sideswipe?" She called. "...Where is everybody...?"  
Her feet barely made a sound as she hopped out of the boat and started walking. She'd memorized the maze of stacks and shelves, knowing where everything belonged and which path led where. She heard engines revving and hurried, running around the corner to the clearing. "Fixit, where is-"

Her systems stalled for a brief moment, bringing her to a sudden halt. Though her feet stopped, the rest of her did not, and she let out a squeak as she fell forward. All optics fell on her, and she froze in place, staring back at the pair she had never met and only heard about.

"Well hello, little one..."

The virocon opened her mouth, but nothing came out for several seconds. "...Optimus Prime...!"

Optimus bent down, putting a hand out. "There's no need to be afraid, Flashdrive... Your father introduced us to you earlier while you were sleeping."

Flashdrive hesitated, but finally took his hand and allowed the prime to pull her up to her feet. "D-Daddy talks about you...All the time..."

"Does he now...?" Ratchet muttered, "Never mentioned _you_ to _us_."

Flashdrive shook her helm, "I am not important like _you_ , Mr. Ratchet."

"But you _are_ important." Optimus' optics twinkled. "Especially to Bumblebee."

Flashdrive smiled, "Okay... Why are you here?"

"We have a mission to complete here on Earth. Bumblebee and the others are going to help from other Autobots who are in trouble. They will be back soon."

"They never take me...'Too dangerous.'"

"For such a little one as yourself, it would be..." Optimus bent down to the little bot's eye level, "...but you will grow up and be able to help soon."

Flashdrive's mouth broke into a wide grin, and she grabbed onto Optimus' arm tightly. "Thank you, Mr. Optimus!"

Optimus chuckled, using his free hand to pat the little bot's helm.

**Fixit,** Bumblebee's voice echoed through the command center, **activate the groundbridge.**

"At once, Lieutenant." Fixit replied.

Flashdrive released Optimus as the Groundbridge opened, stepping back as the rest of the team entered with two more bots limping behind. "What happened?"

"Just a scuffle, Sweetspark." Bumblebee scooped up his daughter into his arms, "Glad to see you feeling better."

"Me too...I didn't like being sick."

"Thank you...For helping us." the femme murmured.

"You're welcome, Transmutate..."

"Both of you have a seat so I can check you out..." Ratchet ordered, and the pair sat down on the trailer. "You're both worse for wear..."

"And we'd better get this hunter in a stasis pod..."  
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"...Somethin's happened."

Treadmark grumbled in agreement. Greasefire and Boltcutter should've been back by now. Greasefire's injuries may have slowed them down some, but even then, it had been too long, and no check-ins in the past three mega-cycles.

Their employer was inside the ship on the hillside, working on something. What that 'something' was, the hunters weren't sure, but they were sure it probably wasn't in their missing prisoners' best interests.

A crashing through the bushes brought them to lift their weapons, poised to fire if it was deemed a threat. They lowered them however, when the bot finally broke free and fell onto his hands and knees. "Greasefire."

Some of Greasefire's injuries from their previous encounter had reopened, spilling fresh energon onto his chassis as he forced himself back up onto his feet. "Evening, Fracture...There was a...complication."

Treadmark's optics narrowed. "What _kind_ of complication...?"

"We found the prisoners- Well, one anyway -and tried to recapture him, but then Autobot reinforcements showed up out of nowhere... _Skilled_ reinforcements."

"Drift's posse, no doubt..." Fracture muttered, "...Where's Boltcutter?"

"Captured... I managed to get away. Two-against-two went to two-against-seven real fast...!"

Treadmark growled. "This job is turning out to be more than we bargained for..."

"Maybe," Fracture expressed, "But do either of you wimps want to be the one to tell Shockwave you want out?"

None of them responded for several moments, and then Treadmark gave a sharp nod. "Then it's settled...At least we know Boltcutter won't crack easily..."

"I take it that one of your team has been apprehended..."  
The remaining hunters turned to Shockwave as he exited the ship.

"Yes sir... They located our query, but were intercepted by more Autobots."

"I have encountered them before." Fracture informed. "I know how they plan, Sir."

"Then I shall put you in charge of planning the mission to regain our missing property...But before that, you mentioned that you had a former associate here on Earth."

Fracture's face darkened, "Yes...We worked together after the Alchemor stranded him here."

"Then he will have the most knowledge of this terrain...Find him and recruit him."

"And if he refuses?"

"...End him."   
Shockwave looked back out into the woods. "My minicon subordinate is still out searching... He will most likely remain out in the field as long as he is able."

"You're not worried he'll run off?"

"No..." He held up a scanner, "I am tracking his position, and he knows what will happen if he does not comply..."

__________________________________________________________________________________

Night was falling by the time Ratchet was finished tending to the wounded pair, who hadn't said much more than the occasional 'yes' or 'no' following a question. Transmutate was leaning against Pterosword's shoulder, a blanket wrapped around her tiny, thin frame that looked like it might snap in half if you handed her anything heavy. Pterosword's head was drooping downward, optics partially open but occasionally closing for a few moments before snapping back open.

Bumblebee had finally offered to let the two sleep, and both had curled up on the trailer, Transmutate wrapped up in his arms and pressed against his chestplate. Bumblebee couldn't really blame them for being exhausted, they'd been running for days if not longer, and now they were finally able to relax and recharge. It was obvious to them now that the pair knew each other better than just being held captive together, but the team had decided to wait to hear their story until they'd had a chance to recover a little from their experience.

This break in the immediacy of the situation did give Bumblebee a chance to investigate the mystery he'd found the day before, and he made a note to sit down with Flashdrive, now that she was feeling better. 

The autobot picked up the little vircon, putting her down on his knee and looking her in the optic. "Flashdrive, what do you remember before you got sick?"

Flashdrive's optics looked back into his. "You want to know _why_ I got sick." She guessed.  
The lieutenant nodded, and Flashdrive's optics shifted as she bit her lip and appeared to be trying to think back. "Well...I was helping Denny and Russell clean up, and then I went and got one of those little cubes of energon because I was thirsty, and I drank about half of it before going to help Denny some more...But I don't think I made it that far. The next thing I remember was being in the park and throwing up."

Bumblebee stroked his chin for a moment. Could it have been the energon? Was the answer as simple as that?

"Did that help, Daddy?" Flashdrive asked.

"Maybe..." He checked the time, and then plopped Flashdrive down on the ground. "Alright, it's bedtime for little bots."

"Aww...!" Flashdrive pouted, but then gave Bumblebee a quick peck on the cheek before hurrying off to bed.

"Don't forget to brush your teeth!"

"I won't!"

A chuckle caught Bumblebee's attention, and he turned to Ratchet leaning against the stacks. "What?"

"Spoken like a true parent..." Ratchet responded with a grin. "...You clearly didn't have trouble adapting to her being here."

Bumblebee sighed. "You weren't here for the adaption trouble, Ratchet... I really _did_ mean to tell you eventually, I just didn't know how to exactly. I figured waiting until Knockout had presented his findings would be the best idea, but I didn't want every scientist on Cybertron knocking on our door wanting to do tests on her."

"I understand...And speaking of scientists..."

Bumblebee sighed. "I know... Shockwave will be looking for Pterosword and Transmutate, which may put Flashdrive at risk."

"What're you gonna do about it?"

"I don't know... I may send her to Griffin Rock, or maybe just for Raf to keep an optic on for a few days."

"You've resumed contact with Rafael?"

"Yes... It might've been stupid, but he's really been helpful in our steps towards revealing ourselves to humans." He paused for a moment. "...Hey, you've got medical scanners aboard Prime Force One, right?"

"Naturally...Why?"

"There's something I want to check on... Flashdrive said she just drank some energon before she blacked out. I want to check and see if there was any contaminants."

"I see. Let's get to it, then."

It didn't take long to locate the cube Flashdrive had consumed from; Denny had placed it in a separate place in case Flashdrive wanted to finish it later. 

Bumblebee and Ratchet took the cube and entered the ship that was hovering over the Scrapyard and cloaked from human view. Bumblebee had been inside before and wasn't foreign to the layout. They did a brief check for visible contaminants but found nothing at the visual range.

Using the scanners, however, gave them a clue almost immediately.

**Energon sample does not meet quality standards. Residual traces of V05, G16, and CN24 are detected.**

"We knew about the CN24 from Fixit's scans of the energon she brought back up after waking up in the park, but V05 and G16 are chemicals found in the machinery used to harvest energon in the mines." Bumblebee informed. "Any energon that was harvested with faulty equipment has to be discarded."

"Whoever mined this particular batch must've known that." Ratchet overlooked the product number on the cube. "Hmm...I'll look into it. In the meantime, I'd suggest looking into your stash and removing any other cubes from this batch."

Bumblebee nodded. "I'm not going to let the rest of my team get poisoned..."

**Bee! Get back down here!** Sideswipe's voice shouted through the commlink.

"Sideswipe, what is it?"

**It's Pterosword! He's going into some kind of seizure!**

The pair looked at each other and then abandoned their current mystery to investigate this new one.  
They lowered back down to the ground, finding Grimlock holding down the refugee as his chassis shook. Transmutate was standing beside Sideswipe, watching with worry as Ratchet passed to examine the patient. "How long has he been doing this?"

"Just a few seconds before Sideswipe called you!" Grimlock informed. "I didn't want him hurting himself."

"Transmutate, is this normal?" Strongarm asked.

Transmutate shook her head. "No...I mean...He had nightmares...before he was put in the...mental facility, but...Not like this."

"N-No!" Pterosword cried as Grimlock held him still, "S-Stop! Grimlock, help!"

"I'm trying!" Grimlock assured, "What do I need to do!?"

"I don't think he knows what he's saying, Grim." Sideswipe murmured.

"Grimlock! No! Don't let him hurt the others...! He's gonna kill us! G-Grim! Grimlock! Get out of here!" 

Pterosword's thrashing grew harder, and his cries became intelligible, only that he was in pain. Some of the cries came out more like feral screeches, echoing through the yard until Denny and Russell came to investigate. Transmutate was shoving her faceplate into Sideswipe's side, trying not to look as her friend suffered.

After a few minutes, he finally quieted, his body once again becoming still. Ratchet checked his vitals, and Grimlock slowly released the other dinobot and stepped back.

"That was _some_ nightmare..." Strongarm mumbled but looked at her teammate as he stared blankly. "...Grim, you okay?"

Grimlock shook his helm, "No...Those things he said... I think...I think the _old_ me knew him."

"You mean...Before you _died?_ "   
Grim nodded slowly, putting a hand over his mouth and visibly shaken.

"But that's impossible." Sideswipe informed, "Not unless he's... A..."

"Sweet Primus...!" Bumblebee looked at the dinobot as Ratchet continued to tend to him. "...This isn't a new dinobot at all...It's _Swoop_."


End file.
